The roof on the 2007 addition on the north side of Brook Park Elementary School is now covered with a special coating, which saved Brookfield-La Grange Park School District 95 around $300,000 compared to installing a new roof.
According to architect Stephen J. Cashman of Cashman Stahler Group in Lombard, the product is Tremco AlphaGuard BIO, which is a two-part, bio-based polyurethane coating for existing build-up asphalt roof systems.
Cashman said that based on previous project costs for a similarly sized roof project, if the existing built-up asphalt roof system was replaced with a fully adhered roof system with a 20-year warranty, it would have cost approximately $738,120 versus $418,200.
“The cost savings are typically between 40 percent and 60 percent depending on the project complexities,” he said. “It also would have taken approximately one more month to complete the demolition and new roof work.”
District 95 Superintendent Ryan Evans said the district is pleased with the results.
“With the completion of this, we have completed all of our roofs with this product,” he said. “The remaining portion of Brook Park from the 1950s and all of S.E. Gross Middle School is coated with it.”
There is a unique aspect of the coating, he said – it requires eye protection.
“[It] is so white so it reflects sunlight to also help with energy efficiency,” he said. “We install sunglass boxes at the ladders so when people go up to work, they can grab a pair because once on the roof, it is very bright.”
Cashman added that the biggest benefit of the Tremco AlphaGurd BIO product is the cost savings.
“The shorter project duration also helps with completing the projects over the short summer break,” he said.